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by Jeff Gamet, Mac Observer
by Chris Barylick, Mac Observer
Despite its rough edges, Empire At War is a genuinely fun strategy-based Star Wars title with enough of George Lucas' vision in place to keep fans of both the game genre and film saga happy.
by Messiah @ Ten Ton Hammer
Everything seems easier on the Mac.
by Reuters
Home Secretary John Reid wants manufacturers of mobile phones and MP3 players to concentrate as much on anti-crime functions as on other design features.
Just make sure it doesn't punish the honest customers, please?
by David Chartier, The Unofficial Apple Weblog
by Amy Matthew, The Pueblo Chieftain
This new universe doesn't guarantee that everything out there is good, but it does mean that untold amounts of worthy material that would have remained undiscovered now have a way into the public view. Nobody loses in that scenario.
by David Marshall, InfoWorld
Intel-based Mac OS X users now have yet another virtualization solution to choose from now that Innotek has announced a Mac version of its VirtualBox virtualization software. This time though, the product is based on open-source code and is the first professional virtualization product being made available free of charge to the Apple Macintosh platform.
by Joe Kissell, TidBITS
Apart from the interface weirdness and a few cosmetic bugs, Coda performed for me as advertisd. It enabled me to create my site, quickl and easily, without switching applications. But I can't shake the feeling that some important things are still missing.
by The Cafes
Mac native programs like BBEdit and Safari usually get this right. Misbehaving applications usually derive from Windows code bases.
by James D. Stark
I no longer want to suffer for someone elses' poor system designs. The only viable alternative being Mac OS X, which is the only modern operating system that has any elegance to the design by my standards.
by Jeff Carlson, Seattle Times
There comes a time when you just don't need two unused laptops stacked on top of a Power Mac, sitting next to an old iMac that contains no hard drive.
by Alan Graham, ZDNet
While I know you think you know what's best for me (and I appreciate that), I have to say that when you recently told me that I am not interested in a subscription-based iTunes, because I would prefer to own my music, you totally missed the mark.
Look at Apple's web hosting service in .Mac, and one will quickly realise Apple is not interested in an all-you-can-eat suck-all-my-bandwidth business model.
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
Delicated to web nerds everywhere: an unfortunate placement of Yahoo! ad.
by Gizmodo
All of this adds up to yet another reason why the Big Four and other labels need to drop DRM to spur music sales online — it's for their own good.
by Nancy Eaton, Apple
Throughout this evolution, Macs have provided the technological foundation for Hallmark's creative department.
by Bija Gutoff, Apple
For someone who's ever hopping between art forms, media and applications, the Mac uniquely suits. "With the Mac, there are no constraints to what I can design."
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
There is no safety issue with the batteries — the issue is limited to performance.
by Ben Long, Macworld
The Live Color feature alone is worth the price of admission, and the interface improvements and better performance will make all users very happy.
by BooMama
While we definitely missed his company, I could not deprive him of the opportunity to be at the Grand Opening of the Apple Store.
In sickness, in health. For better, for worse. And in the event of once-in-a-lifetime grand opening celebrations.
by Oska Syahbana, Permagnus.com
by Giles Turnbull, O'Reilly Mac DeveCenter Blog
A brand-new Mac, plus those five additions, becomes a usable workspace for me.
by Peter Burrows, BusinessWeek
Apple should have come clean about Jobs involvement earlier, rather than let it leak out in dribs and drabs — and SEC complaints.
by Jonny Evans, Macworld UK
Apple plans to offer films for sale through iTunes before the end of the year, a senior Apple executive has claimed.
Hello, Apple? Singapore? Not even iTunes music yet...
by Sven Rafferty, SvenOnTech
As screens become larger and resolution independence becomes a standard, Finder will just become more and more archaic.
by Larry Dignan, ZDNet
Apple lowers prices once in a while, but for the most part it doesn't pass along savings to customers.
by Priya Ganapati, TheStreet.com
by Alan Graham, Personal Bee
I'm seriously getting fed up with the delays and obvious omissions from Apple's online strategy, and I tend to believe that if the iPhone has been responsible for delays in OS X Leopard... where are Apple .Mac/iLife priorities?
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
Christopher Brennan reads between the lines of Apple, and speculates that something cheap is coming from Apple this upcoming quarter.
We know it's not the iPhone, and it's probably not iPods. MacBook Nano?
Dang, looks like I will need to postphone my computer purchase again in case Apple breaks my heart.
by Switching To Mac
by Tom Yager, InfoWorld
The MacBook Pro has become the first notebook for which I carry with its charger no matter where I am.
by Rebecca Lieb, ClickZ
A small but noticeable trend in the ad:tech expo hall is visble lack of "win an iPod" signs at vendor booths.
Will we see "win an iPhone" soon?
by Michael Eisenberg, Six Kids And A Full Time Job
Apple has certainly earned its brand by making great products.
by Kevin Kelleher, GigaOM
I'm troubled by the very real possibility he participated in options fraud and is being treated as above the law.
An open, clean investigation would prevent this: If Jobs is innocent, the debate is over. If not, he makes amends while shareholder support will keep him as CEO. Either way, this image of Steve Jobs as above the law, a toxic one for the stock market, would go away.
by Brent Simmons, Inessential.com
Most folks are going to make app-by-app decisions, and developers are going to try a whole bunch of different approaches.
by Jeremy Horwitz, iLounge
by Christopher Breen, Playlist
It's simply a matter of doing it right. Can you think of a company more qualified than Apple to take on the job?
My guess is that Apple cannot find a suitable business model in providing subscription service. Customers win because they get their music. Labels win because they get their recurring income based on roughly the same pool of music. Apple loses because of the bandwidth cost.
It seems to me offering subscription service only works if the company is not that as popular as iTunes.
But, of course, never say never. :-)
by MacNN
"The new version of iChat in Leopard opens up these capabilities to other applications on the system, allowing those applications to provide content through an iChat session."
by Reuters
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs indicated Wednesday he is unlikely to give in to calls from the music industry to add a subscription-based model to Apple's wildly popular iTunes online music store.
by Andres Bylund, Motley Fool
by Wendy M Grossman, The Guardian
Musicians have been badgering Apple to sell their music without copy protection for years, so why is it changing its tune now?
by Peter Burrows, BusinessWeek
by Jeff Gamet, Mac Observer
Brainwave announced the immediate availability of the power nap and sleep application pzizz 2.2 on Thursday. The updated version allows users to set alarm delays for energizer mode between 2 and 10 seconds, and silent delays between 5 and 10 seconds before live playback.
by Nancy Eaton, Apple
In moving to the Toronto Medical Discovery Tower at MaRS in 2005, virtanen seized the opportunity to overhaul the UHN Microarray Core Facility's aging IT infrastructure to better support its goals. And that included switching to Mac OS X, Apple Xserve, and Xserve RAID as the key solution for efficiently managing their massive amounts of data, while minimizing overhead.
by John Markoff and Matt Richtel, New York Times
Many in Silicon Vallye were scratching their heads on Wednesday. Why would Mr Anderson go out of his way to tarnish Mr Jobs after he had been let off with a relatively light penalty?
by Brent Simmons, Inessential.com
The main thing for me is explicitness.
by Ryan Naraine, ZDNet
Rumors are flying that Dino Dai Zovi's MacBook Pro exploit has been swiped and is making the rounds online.
by Charles Cooper, CNET News.com
Apple's board knows a good thing when it sees it.
by Greg Smith, Greg's Photo Diary
The edge of my MacBook is driving me mad.
by Eric Savitz, Barron's
Apple plans to recognize revenue for iPhone and Apple TV sales gradually over a 24 month period, reflecting plans to gradually roll out new software products for both products free to customers, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said on a conference call with analysts following its well-received March quarter results.
Question: Will iPhone and Apple TV stop receiving updates — or end of support — after 24 months? Just wondering...
by Scott Kurtz, PyPonline.com
Don't wink at me and play "let's make a deal" and then offer me 75 bucks off a 2k system. Right?
by Steve Borsch, Connecting The Dots
As Adobe Apollo and Microsoft Silverlight garner significant attention in the emerging rich internet application space, where is Apple?
See Also: Where Are You Apple?, by Ryan Stewart, ZDNet.com. Apple has great talent, both from a user interface standpoint and a design standpoint. They really would be the perfect "Rich Internet Application" company.
by Dave Girard, Ars Technica
by Joel Spolsky, Joel On Software
By locking in users and then not supporting their own lock-in features, they're effectively making it very hard for many Mac Office 2004 users to upgrade to Office 2008, forcing a lot of their customers to reevaluate which desktop applications to use.
by Anick Jesdanun, Associated Press
Google software for searching files on Mac is good companion but not essential.
See Also: A Taste of Google Desktop, by Scott Knaster, Official Google Mac Blog.
by AppleInsider
Apple said Wednesdday it will leverage its proven capability in the area of software development to gradually add new software features and applications to its iPhone and Apple TV products free of charge.
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
The company shipped 1,517,000 Macs and 10,549,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 36 percent growth in Macs and 24 percent growth in iPods over the year-ago quarter.
See Also: Apple Profit Powers Up; Shares Pass $100, by May Wong, Associated Press.
by Galen Gruman, Macworld
The more I use this new version, the more I appreciate the subtle retooling throughout, not just the obvious new features.
by Nathan Alderman, Macworld
If you're planning to write a novel, script, short story, or research paper, Scrivener 1.03 was made for you.
by Jeff Gamet, iPod Observer
by May Wong, Associated Press
The SEC said it did not plan to pursue any further action against Apple itself, which cooperated with the government's probe, but it stopped short of saying its investigation was closed.
by Scott Rosenberg, Wordyard
I'd argue that those of us who are not as shuffle-happy as Levy can feel a bit of extra pride: By virtue of our active personal DJ-ing, we become, instead of passive observers of serendiptious moments, more like coauthors of our own pleasurable juxtapositions.
by Scott steven, Theocacao
I still haven't had a good real sit-down with it yet, but my basic reaction is this: somebody finally got it right.
by Francois Joseph de Kermadec, O'Reilly Mac DeveCenter Blog
That gem lives within the Coda bundle and is called "Panic Sans.dfont".
by Jeannie Kever, Houston Chronicle
The iPod changed the way we think about music, a cultural shift that has infiltrated jogging trails, surgical suites, public transportation and even private homes. Now Apple is trying to expand its reach into all digital media, through the new Apple TV and the upcoming iPhone.
by Ted Samson, InfoWorld
Apple seems to be unfairly getting a worse rap than anyone else.
by Scott McNulty, The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Periscope is a webcam utility that adds a bunch of cool features to your Mac's webcam.
by Robert Mullins, IDG News Service
Legal and business experts will have a lot to learn from how the case against former Apple lawyer Nancy Heinen grinds its way through the courts.
Because most cases of stock options backdating by U.S. public companies have been settled out of court, and because Heinen is planning to fight her charges, the case could be one of few played out in open court, legal analysts say.
by Jalecode
I don't understand this. The connections between components aren't very aparent to me. It feels like 6 separate apps all put into the same window.
by Pilip Elmer-DeWitt, Apple 2.0
This doesn't mean the SEC buys Anderson's version of events. Although they declined to comment on Anderson's statement, they did send other signals.
by Tom Krazit, CNET News.com
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Nancy Heinen, the former general counsel at Apple, saying her actions led to "fraudulent" stock option backdating at the company.
But the SEC said it doesn't plan to file any actions against Apple as a company, and simultaneously filed and settled a lawsuit against former chief financial officer Fred Anderson over his alleged participation in the backdating scandal.
by Jeffery Battersby, Macworld
Beautifully designed and built on sound organizational principals, Midnight Inbox 1.1.5 shows a great deal of promise and is an excellent tool for those who want to bring GTD to their Mac desktop. For the rest of us, the program needs more documentation and fewer assumptions about how well we already understand the GTD process.
by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
They're 'in denial,' retorts a vulnerability researcher.
by Nancy Well, IDG News Service
Apple CEO Steve Jobs told former chief financial officer Fed Anderson to backdate stock options, according to a statement issued today by Anderson's attorney.
According to the statement from Anderson's attorney, Anderson "cautioned" Jobs that the grant for executives would have to be priced based on the date of the board agreement "or there could be an accounting charge," and also told Jobs the board would have to confirm it had given prior approval for the grant dates "in a legally satisfactory method."
by Ryan Naraine, ZDNet
"Turn off all unnecessary browser features such as extra plug-ins, JavaScript and Java."
"There was very little user action involved. Once the browser opened to a web page that the attacker controlled, it was game over."
by Jeremy Horwitz, iLounge
It's not just a modest expansion of the iPod's built-in Music Quiz game: iQuiz contains a surprisingly robust sequel to Music Quiz, plus separate, user-customizable Music, Movie and TV Show Trivia titles.
by John C. Dvorak, PC Magazine
When the iPhone came along, I was already sour on the entire idea of any sort of device consolidation, whether it be from Apple or anyone else.
by John Gruber, Daring Fireball
Coda is like OpenDoc, Panic-style.
by LC Angell, iLounge
According to the game's description, iQuiz includes four built-in games, including entertainment trivia and a quiz game based on a user's music library.
by MacNN
by Sydney Morning Herald
Computer hobbyists are a dying breed — literally. Computer club officials say their members are getting greyer and fewer in number as home computers become steadily more common and treated more like the telephone: always there, always on.
by Greg Miller, Macworld
This welcome addition to the CS3 family is easy to learn and use,and its many capabilities have great potential for use in these professions. Its seamless integration with the main product makes it a natural addition to any technical expert's toolkit.
by Katie Marsal, AppleInsider
Although Apple has repeatedly said that its iTunes Store operates at "just above break even," a thorough analysis of the service's economics suggests it turns a profit roughly in line with the company average, with recent events paving the way for even greater gains.
by Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service
The decision baffles analysts, who cite design issues and the inability to write new applications for the OS as reasons they think it's a poor choice.
I don't know, but maybe the consumer side of affairs is going to be taken care of by Apple?
by Thomas Ptacek, Matasano Chargen
Any Java-enabled browser is a viable attack vector, if QuickTime is installed.
by Merlin Mann, 43 Folders
It took me a while, but every since I've gotten my head around Smart Folders (and Smart Playlists, and Smart Groups, etc.), I've started to think about the way I use my Mac a bit differently.
by John Gruber, Daring Fireball
In my world, I look for proof and evidence.
by Robert Mullins, IDG News Service
Apple shareholders will vote on a resolution at the company's annual meeting May 10 on a proposal to remove certain hazardous chemicals rom their products.
The resolution was submitted by Trillium Asset Management, of Boston, an investment firm that specializes in making socially responsible investments.
by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
In simple terms, it's like Dreamweaver without the WYSIWYG, and cooler. Coda integrates SubEthaEdit's collaborative editing and sharing with Transmit's FTP engine, CSSEdit, and various code tips, with previwing in a WebKit view.
See Also: Coda First Impressions, by Giles Turnbull in O'Reilly Mac DevCenter Blog.
by Jason Cranford Teague, Macworld
A great piece of software feels natural to use and turns even the most-complex tasks into an easily managed process, making you feel as though the program knows exactly what you need and when you need it. Merlin 2.0.3 has almost reached that level of ease of use and sophistication for project management.
by MacMinute
by Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News
The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected this week to bring its first legal action in the Apple backdating probe, targeting the company's former top lawyer for her alleged role in rigging options, according to sources familiar with the matter.
by Scott Rosenberg, Wordyard
by The Wphj Blog
Now it may not be as practical as the other removable and replaceable keyboards of other Macs, but [the keyboard with "Chiclet" keys] is much nicer to type on and much sleeker looking.
I wonder if the MacBook keyboard also prevents breadcrumbs (the real kind) and other stuff that accumulates inside typical laptop keyboards.
by Alvin Meets Mac
I love my iMac, and I encourage everyone, especially home users and people who don't like to deal with a lot of headaches, to consider taking the plunge with a Mac.
by London, Lanka And Drums
I've been amazed and delighted by the simplicity of its design and the ease in which I've been able to do things.
by Kelly Fisk, Bisbane Times
Mini had stolen my heart and I wanted her back.
by Howard Mintz and troy Wolverton, San Jose Mercury News
A Mercury News examination of a massive 2001 stock-options grant to Jobs that was backdated through bogus documentation — the central focus of the federal probe — shows there is scant evidence, if any, to support criminal charges against the Silicon Valley icon.
by Thomas Ptacek, Matasano Chargen
Turn off Java.
by Adam Curry
Our strategy has always been the investment in people who create content.
by Iljitsch van Beijnum, Ars Technica
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
If you havve ever worked with Windows Me — that's the consumer version of Windows that is after Windows 98 and before Windows XP — you would understand perfectly why Microsoft wants to change history and pretend that this version never existed. :-)
by Meme Agora
I can't resist beating everyone on the head with the moral: Don't succumb to FUD because something is different.
by Aidan Malley, AppleInsider
An Illinois-based company and its Nevada partner have filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" treads on an interface patent that affects the operating system's nearly universal use of tabs.
by Munir Kotadia, ZDNet Australia
This week I stumbled across a very clever video that shows someone demonstrating Apple's iPhoto software, with a voiceover from a Microsoft presentation describing some very similar features in Windows Vista.
by Valleywag
The main beneficiary will be Apple, which dominates podcasting with iTunes, and the window for new intermediaries, between broadcasters and their audience, is fading.
See Also: Dave Winer: I strongly disagree. The users won. And the people with programming that the users like won.
by Nancy Gohring, Computerworld
A hacker managed to break into a Mac and win a $10,000 prize as part of a contest started at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver.
In winning the contest, he exposed a hole in Safari, Apple Inc.'s browser. "Currently, every copy of OS X out there now is vulnerable to this," said Sean Comeau, one of the organizers of CanSecWest.
by Buzz Andersen
I will always look back very fondly on my time at Apple, and I'm forever indebted to the friends there who gave me my big chance, took me under their wings, and taught me so much. Apple remains, in my mind, a very special place, and I consider it a distinct honor to have been there during a large part of what might be called the company's "Silver Age."
by Yinka Adegoke, Reuters
When Apple Inc. sits for ocntract negotiations with the major record companies over the next month, it will probably seek further concessions from them on selling music without copy-protection software.
by MacMinute
by Jim Heid, Macworld
The bottom line is that Photoshop CS3 is the best, most full-featured image-editing program available for photographers and designers.
by Simplehelp
The Apple Remote has turned out to be one of my favorite things about my MacBook Pro. Aside from its obvious uses, you can use it to do a pretty wide variety of things. Here are 10 of the ways I've used the Apple Remote to make my life a bit easier.
My view: I remember having an Apple-issued remote control for my Macintosh LC 630 many years ago. As far as I remember, besides watching television on my Mac, that remote wasn't that useful. How time has changed...
by Roughly Drafted
by Blackfriars' Marketing
Apple has too much invested in the iPhone and its success to allow such unintended consequences to spoil the launch of this flagship product.
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld
CodeWeavers' CrossOver Mac is unique among virtualization programs in that it doesn't actually require a copy of Windows.
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Apple hung on to 5 percent of the U.S. personal computer market the first quarter of this year, research firm Gartner said Thursday, fueled by another impressive jump in systems sold compared to a year ago.
by MacNN
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
Thunderbird 2 — a free e-mail client that's the result of open source code development — continues the software's renowned abilities to sort out junk mail from "good" e-mail, and adds new features including advanced folder views, support for RSS and newsgroups, message "tagging", message history navigation, an improved search engine, the ability to save frequently used searches, and easier access to popular web mail services.
by Siobhan O'Neill, The Guardian
Apple has already sold a kajillion of the things. Isn't that enough?
by Reuters
"Our expectations are good. Our testing has been good," said AT&T chief operating officer Randall Stephenson. "The iPhone is on target to launch in June."
by Jonny Evans, Macworld UK
BBC new media boss confirms Mac support for BBC online plans "a priority".
by David Braue, ZDNet Australia
Apple's soon-to-be-launched iPhone will be irrelevant to busines users because it is a "closed device" and does not support Microsoft Office, a senior executive with the software giant said this week.
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
Apple has a large group of customers who are willing to give free advertisement to Apple's products. This is well known.
But I didn't know that even Microsoft wants to give free advertisment...
by Glenn Wolsey
Will Friedwald proclaims he has the world largest iTunes collection. An avid listener to Jazz music, and a writer for the New York Sun, Will spends his days in front of his Power Mac G5 running "The Matrix", his mammoth 200,000 track iTunes library.
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
This post has nothing to do with Apple or Macintosh. :-)
But, me and my wife and my daughter are going to Disneyland! The air tickets has been booked, the hotel has been reserved, all we have to do now is to wait. (And for daddy to figure out how to pay for all these.)
The last time I was inside Disney's magic/manipulation, it was the early '90s. I was also just a college student with not a lot of money. Not to say I have a lot of dough now, but it's nice to not worry too much about spending some extra money so that my daughter can have breakfast with Mickey Mouse. (At 5, I don't think she's at the age of fully realizing that is just a man in a mouse suit... I hope.)
So, if you have any tips for me regarding Hong Kong Disneyland, can you please e-mail me? Thanks!
Oh, and MyAppleMenu will shut down for a week sometime in June. :-)
by Benjamin J. Higginbotham, Technology Evangelist
by Chris Howard, Apple Matters
The question now is will history repeat itself?
by Jason Bovberg, Connected Home Magazine
I'm not saying that you can achieve this kind of life-into-the-computer-realm life change only by way of a Mac. But in my life, it was a Mac that showed me my digital future. My connected-home future.
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
Apple and a number of other companies have voiced their support for the Patent Reform Act of 2007. A bipartisan bill currently under consideration in the U.S. congress, the proposed legislation calls for some fundamental changes to the way that patents are granted and the way they're litigated in U.S. courts.
by MacMinute
by Christopher Breen, Macworld
ArtRage 2 is a terrific natural-media painting program at a price that's impossible to resist.
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld
It's got ways to go before it's a polished Parallels competitor, and it isn't ready for people who need a stable, full-featured Windows environment. But it's a good start.
by Christopher Breen, Macworld
by MacNN
Apple has posted a white paper on its new Apple ProRes 422 video format, which the company says is designed to reproduce as much of an artist's original vision on the screen as possible.
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
Billed as a replacement for Apple's QuickTime Pro software, SimpleMovieX is designed to enable users of digital video on the Mac to edit their content.
by Daniel Jalkut, Red Sweater Blog
I can't afford to put my faith in a product gone bad.
by Stephen Austin, MacNN
On balance, SyncTogether is potentially a very useful tool, and a much more flexible and cheaper replacement for .Mac, but getting it to work properly can be tricky.
by Tim Gideon, PC Magazine
If it's a larger share of the public's spending money you seek, here's a surefire way not get it: Mess with a pricing standard that finally has people listening to music again.
by Karen Haslam, Macworld UK
Apple will announce its second quarter financial results next Wednesday, 25 April.
by Bloomberg
Cisco and Apple, each of which has a device called the iPhone, are exploring a half-dozen ways their products can work together, Cisco chief development officer Charlie Giancarlo said.
by iTodd Central
by Alan Zisman, Low End Mac
The bottom line is that current Boot Camp users have nothing to fear from the Leopard delay.
by Pal Thurrott, Internet Nexus
Making an operating system is hard, and we can and should cut Apple some slack when there are problems. Maybe Apple and its fans could extend the same courtesy.
by Kirk Hiner, Applelinks
It seems that every time Toast is updatd, I recommend it. Hopefully, you haven't been paying atention, because this is the one you need.
by Stephen Bell Wellington, Computerworld
Mac software to replace MS Office in classroom under new education deal.
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
As the cliche goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Developers should treasure their customers, and give customers the rightful respect that they deserve.
Too bad that many developers doesn't seem to want to treasure their customers. Too bad that many of developers seems to want to weed out pirates rather than make customers happy.
There are a lot of competition out there. Many products are 'free' nowadays. And competition can come from the most unlikely of places. (Applescripts, spreadsheets, and database applications, for example, can be very powerful indeed.)
It is very easy to find out why a product sucks. And it can be very easy to move on.
by Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle
Evangelists tell all their friends how wonderful something is, and eventually the masses try it and like it. Mainstreamers change the equation and the nature of the product. They come because it's cool, but because they've arrived, it's no longer cool.
by David Chartier, The Unofficial Apple Weblog
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
by AppleInsider
Jobs' keynote will in fact run the traditional 90 minutes.
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld
With its excellent application support, well-integrated Coherence mode, drag-and-drop capabilities, and overall level of performance, Parallels is a great match for people who need to run the full Windows OS on their Macs — or people who'd like to experiment with other operating systems, such as Linux.
by Christopher Breen, Macworld
I'm a little uncomfortable with the amount of control it has over the mail on my POP and IMAP servers, I don't like having to pay yearly subscription fees (however modest), and I wish it were a little more stable.
by Katie Marsal, AppleInsider
In an in-depth research note released to clients on Tuesday, American Technology analyst Shaw Wu cited sources who indicate that a mail-in rebate or carrier subsidy for iPhone of $50-$150 is under serious consideration by the Cupertino-based electronics firm.
by James Avery and Jim Holmes, Computerworld
by Justin Blanton
There's a reason Wall Street is still bullish on Apple even after the Leopard news; they know that the future is mobile and that Apple is not just preparing to ride the wave, but could actually have a large hand in controlling/creating it.
by Leander Kahney, Wired
At the moment, the revolution is the iPhone's touchscreen, not OS X Leopard's point-and-click backup and recovery system.
by Melanie Turner, Sacramento Business Journal
The violation occured over several days as Apple operated its emergency standby generator for a purpose other than maintenance or emergency power.
by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
That's an awful lot of Photoshop benchmarks and 8-core Mac Pro willy-wagging. Just teasing...
by John Martellaro, Mac Observer
Apple's organizational structure didn't change to meet these new challenges.
by Dan Frakes, Macworld
If you're a fan of Expose's approach to windows management, but you also like tabbed web browsing — and your browser of choice is Safari — check out Cocoamug's TabExpose 1.1.
by The Fishbowl
Product activation sucks. It sucks because your continued use of the software you purchased is forever dependent on the continued availability of the licence server. And it sucks because your licence can be unilaterally revoked because someone, somewhere has decided you must be a pirate.
by Vacuous Virtuoso
I'm sorry, but the HIG aren't dead. Quite the contrary; guidelines are needed now more than ever if the Macintosh is to remain the great example of usability it was.
by Rotophonic
Sorry, MacBook andIntel Mac Mini users, Apple has apparently removed support for your graphics cards.
by May Wong, Associated Press
Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs recieved a salary of $1 last year, according to documents filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
But as of March 20, Jobs, 52, still owns more than 5.4 million in restricted shares, worth about $496 million at Monday's closing stock price.
by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
A new Apple patent may give some foresight to the company's plans for offering a "true" multimedia center experience for the living room, as either enhancements to the Apple TV or an entirely new device.
by Dan Gillmor, Center For Citizen Media
You can't buy peace of mind for such things; you have to create it ahead of time.
by Ryan Faas, Computerworld
Directory services are a critical component of any enterprise environment. These services provide a database for central account management for both user and computer, as well as a framework for sharing that information among workstations and servers. Mac OS X's native directory service is called Open Directory.
by Rob Griffiths and Christopher Breen, Macworld
Which one is right for you?
by Christopher Breen, Macworld
It's affordable, effective, easy to use, and as configurable as just about anyone needs a spam utility to be. While other spam software may filter your mail nearly as well, none performs the job as transparently as SpamSieve.
by Iljitsch van Beijnum, Ars Technica
by Seattle Times
Headline writers worldwide immediately saw the opportunity for cutesiness.
by Rachel Rosmarin, Forbes
Google + Apple = ?
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
Adobe on Monday said it began shipping Creative Suite 3, the company's suite of applications designed for the creative professionals.
by Thomas Fitzgerald
The Apple TV, depiste its 1.0 issues, is a fantastic piece of equipment. For those living outside the US too, don't let the lack of iTunes TV and movie content put you off as there are plenty of other ways to get video onto the device. The integration with iTunes and the whole Apple suite is what puts this offering from Apple far, far ahead of its competition.
by Scott Rosenberg, Wordyard
It's time for a Mac laptop that is slim, elegant and three pounds heavy. I'm sure Apple knows this and I can't imagine waiting too much longer for such a device.
by Jim Dalrympel and Jon Seff, Macworld
Apple unveiled on Sunday Final Cut Studio 2, it's production suite for film editors. As part of the update Apple will release Final Cut Pro 6, Soundtrack 2, Cmpressor 3, Motion 3 and a new application called Color.
by Jim Dalrymple and Jon Seff, Macworld
At its special event being held at NAB in Las Vegas on Sunday, Apple announced Final Cut Server, a new server application that works seamlessly with Final Cut Studio 2. The new product is aimed at creative professionals that need to deal with massive amounts of digital content and shrinking production schedules, according to Rob Schoeben, Apple's vice president of Applications Product Marketing.
by Blogs.UnixFu.Net
You will start enjoying your computer again. Yes, it is true. Yes, it can happen. Yes, you may not realize it till it happens.
by Joining Dots
I did need the manual, the Mac needed 300Mb worth of updates, and it had a trial version of Office for Mac waiting to be removed. Not an entirely accurate picture.
by Dave Winer, Scripting News
Apple TV has an intriguing profile, it has a full internet connection through wifi, and it can connect up to any server Apple wants it to. It's kind of a weird beast that way.
by Aaron Freedman, MacUser
According to Oxford customer service, the "democracy" sample sentence (which reads: "a democracy in Iraq is quite unlikely for now or any time soon") does not appear in the New Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus, and it is suggested that Apple programmers added the entry.
by Nick Miller, The Age
Three decades on, Apple still defines geek chic.
by Paul Venezia, InfoWorld
Instant-wake from sleep, a native POSIX OS, native X11, vim, perl, php, MySQL, Apache, high performance, minimal security worries, a plethora of OSS applications, all running seamlessly with Photoshop and Microsoft Office, all without a sizable performance penalty from anti-virus software. Why wouldn't I use it?
by Scott McNulty, The Unofficial Apple Weblog
PC is feeling a little bloated thanks to all the trial software PC manufaturers cram onto their machines.
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
Don't panic when, on your next flight to New Zealand or Los Angeles, that you hear your plane's engine shutting down in the air. It's an all-new planet-saving cost-cutting glide descent approach.
Only panic when you see a monster sitting on the wing of the aircraft, okay?
by Simon Kent, Apple
by Joe Cellini, Apple
"Final Cut Pro supports HD in a really great way, because the HD workflow process is right at the heart of its design."
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
At the end of the day, Apple's goal here is to present a product that's got the fit and finsih we've come to demand from Apple. It's one of the few companies out there that can really deliver what it has promised, even if the deadline slips.
by Christopher Breen, Macworld
SpamX 3.0.2 is far difficult and unpleasant to use than any spam utility should be. A good manual and a decent interface would go a long way towards making SpamX an acceptable option for Mac users.
by Maria Langer
That's a 6-month payday delay for a 4-month publication delay.
by Ed Oswald, BetaNews
Instead of admitting that Leopard is taking for longer to finish than it anticipated, Apple has chosen an attempt to hide behind the iPhone to mask the hypocrisy of delaying the next version of Mac OS X.
by Nicola Godwin, Apple
When ITV Productions opted to replace some of the proprietary editing suites at its post-production facility at ITV Yorkshire in Leeds — home to flagship drama serial Heartbeat and The Royal — it installed a state-of-the-art digital solution based around Apple's Final Cut Studio and Xsan.
by Troy Wolverton, San Jose Mercury News
The problem Apple is running into is that it's a relatively small company compared to tech giants such as Hewlett-Packard or IBM, said Van Baker, an analyst with research from Gartner.
"Clearly there's evidence that they're not executing to the same level they have in the past," said Baker.
by Daniel Jalkut, Red Sweater Blog
In stark contrast to Steve Jobs's brilliantly candid Thoughts On Music, this statement sounds made-up and poorly thought-out. Bluntly crafted, sleazy marketing bullshit.
The best we can hope for is that it is only sleazy marketing bullshit. Because if what Apple's telling us is true, then they've confessed something tragic: they're incapable of building more than one amazing product at a time.
by Mary Jo Foley, ZDNet
Microsoft could say: "Who's copying who now, huh? We thought of the not-enough-engineers excuse way back in 2004!"
by Dan Frakes, Macworld
I wouldn't worry that Apple is "non longer a computer company" just because the iPhone has turned out to be a minor speed bum in Leopard's development. After all, the iPhone is really just the smallest Mac OS X computer ever, and its svelte profile shouldn't slow Leopard down all that much.
by Paul McDougall, InformationWeek
Apple warns users of its Mac Pro systems that Boot Camp 1.2 may not be able to launch Windows Vista as designed without a workaround in cases where the Microsoft operating system has been installed on a secondary drive.
by Om Malik, GigaOM
The future of Apple is devices. Non-computing consumer electronic type devices are much less powerful than traditional computers, and need programmers who are thrifty in their code and skillful enough to squeeze the very last pico-hertz of performance out of lower-power embedded processors.
by Webomatica
I'm used to the rental model of movie watching. I don't want to own the majority of movies I see.
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
Mac users may be frustrated by the delayed release of Mac OS X 10.5, but tech-industry analysts say an October release date for the next major OS X update is nothing to get alarmed about — especially if it helps get the high-profile iPhone out the door on time.
My view: I just want to mention two things: I am a Mac user in Singapore, and there will alsi not be an iPhone in Singapore this year. :-)
by Joshua Chaffin, Financial Times
The world's biggest music companies are expected to ask Apple to introduce a music subscription service to its iTunes digital media store as part of negotiations to renew their agreements with the computer company.
by Dawn Bormann, Kansas City Star
Kansas City, Kan., school administros have unveiled a program that would outfit every high school student in the district with a laptop computer by next school year.
by Charles Jade, Ars Technica
If Apple is relying only on the Apple TV and the iPhone to spur sales of movies at the iTunes Store, then it won't succeed in 2007 either.
by Jeff Gamet, Mac Observer
Apple will likely report Mac sales at the lower end of analyst expectations during its second quarter earnings conference call on April 25, according to American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu. iPod sales, however, will likely be above expectations.
by Nancy Gohring, Computerworld
Apple said today it won't release Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard," the next version of its operating system, by mid-June as planned, blaming the delay on the iPhone.
Apple said that it borrowed some key software engineering and quality assurance resources from its OS X team in order to keep the iPhone on track to ship in June. As a result, the company will show off a near-final version of the OS at the Worldwide Developers Conference in early June and give developers there a beta copy to take home with them.
See Also: AppleInsider: Apple's Leopard still plauged by lenghty bug list.
by Shebanation
The goal of a single, consistent platform look and feel is dead. And looking at Apple's own applications that ship with a new Mac shows that things have only gotten worse.
by Michael Arrington, Tech Crunch
Apple is giving vloggers a few hints on how to optimize their videos for iTunes so that a single format will look ok on both an iPod as well as the new Apple TV, which is probably connected to a large screen HDTV.
by Associated Press
Step down the stark, white stairs into Jeremy Mehrle's basement and meet his Apple computer collection. He's got 99 computers. No, wait. Make that 100. He just got one another last night, he said during a recent visit to his home about 35 miles west of St. Louis.
by Adam Turner, APC
The Apple TV offers the elgant ease of use we've come to expect from the Cupertino crew, but the real disappointment is content.
by Mat Lu, The Unofficial Apple Weblog
by Anthony Finucane
.Mac is definitely worth it if you have two or moare Mac's.
by Donald Melanson, Engadget
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
Big Bang Brain Games might lack a bit of novelty for experienced puzzle gamers, but it's a gorgeous collection you can try out for yourself at no cost via a free demo.
by Christopher Breen, Macworld
The program's price, the annual subscription fee, and the fact that it only works with two e-mail clicents prevents Personal Antispam from receiving my highest praise.
by Martin Veitch, IT Week
There are still sizeable obstalces before Apple can take on business in a way at all comparable to Microsoft. But Apple in 2007 is back in business or at least at the edge of it.
by Karen Haslam, Macworld UK
Market figures show iPod is the only MP3 player, but Apple laptops slip off the chart.
by Erica Sadun, The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Eagle-eyed TUAW reader Klemens noticed that the Apple TV in the commercial had only a power-cord and no connections to a TV.
Here are a few other things you may (or may not) have noticed.
by AppleInsider
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) and Apple announced Wednesday that MGM is now offering titles from its catalog of feature films for purchases and download on the iTunes Store.
by Ina Fried, CNET News.com
The software is licensed only until Apple comes out with a commercial release of Boot Camp, or until September 30, whichever comes first.
The rub is that Apple has not said whether it will issue a final version of Boot Camp for Tiger users, though there have been rumors that Apple will offer a paid Tiger version of Boot Camp.
by John Falcone, CNET Crave
The Washington Post announced today that its online HD video podcast—which is shot in 720p high-definition—will now be available through iTunes.
by Blackfriars' Marketing
Apple simply has a large group of very satisfied customers — and that's the secret ingredient left out of nearly every analysis or op-ed piece that mentions these "zealots."
by Philip Michaels, Macworld
I think it's a pretty effective ad, but then again, it pretty much mirrors what I was going to suggest. (No, really!)
by James Massola, On Line Opinion
We as a society need to stop and think about all the landfills and waste dumps which are soon to hold our broken-down electronic paraphernalia.
by Cara Garretson, Network World
IT managers need to treat these devices like any other removable media.
by John Gruber, Daring Fireball
AAC is not "unique" to Apple. It's not even controlled or invented by Apple, or any other single company.
See Also: John Gruber, Daring Fireball: A Wee Bit More On AAC, Ogg, and MP3.
by Andy Ihnatko, Macworld
Companies often fail because they forget who they are.
by Christopher Breen, Macworld
SpamSweep 1.5.3 is a reasonable choice if you prefer an effective filter that doesn't require much in the way of setup or maintenance. It's not a good choice, however, if you want to get into the guts of your spam utility to configure its lists and filters.
by Scot Finnie, Computerworld
It's the best tool for running Windows on Intel Macs.
by Jeff Gamet, Mac Observer
As a journaling application and text-only blogging tool, MacJournal can't be beat. It is flexible, easy to use, and makes blog entry uploading a simple process.
by Robert McMillan, IDG News Service
Firmware updates patch a flaw that prevented the router from acting as a firewall as well as a flaw that could let an attacker view filenames on a connected USB hard drive.
by Erik Vlietinck, IT-Enquirer
by Marc Orchant, ZDNet
Sticky Windows does one thing really well. It allows you to dock windows to the edge of the screen as tabs that can be expanded with a single click. The former clutter you might have been experiencing is replaced by a clean, ncluttered workspace with instant one-click access to any open window.
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
Apple's products usually have, what I call, the Plan B functionality. This is the secondary functionality that is typically just as useful as the primary functionality or the product's main intented use.
Take the iPod as an example. When the whole iPod business is still in its infancy, a lot of people went ahead and bought an iPod even when they weren't sure of the whole 1000-tunes-in-your-pocket thing. After all, even if music was not their thing, the iPod is still a very decent portable hard disk. If I recall correctly, the iPod was even cheaper than an equivalent portable hard disk at one time.
Similiarly, the Intel Macintosh has a great Plan B design for switchers from the "dark side." Even if the Mac OS X is not what the switchers want, the Macintosh is still a great and competitive piece of hardware for running Windows.
iPhone? Even if the phone functionality sucks, it is still a decent wide-screen movie-playing iPod. (Yes, we all know the iPhone is not out yet, and everything is still in flux.)
So, I am a little mystefied by the Apple TV. There is no Plan B. If you find the TV sync/stream/watching experience not what you wanted, your only option is to return it back to Apple. Apple has no Plan B for you.
Maybe that's what the USB port is going to be. Maybe that's why Apple is so okay with others hacking the Apple TV. Nevertheless, I can't help but feel just a little disappointed.
by Jim Dalrymple, Playlist
Both analysts and executives at Apple expect the iPod's hold on the market to continue, even as more "iPod killers" emerge to take their shots at the music player.
by Jinny Wong, myMacBUZZ
Many programmers from both Windows and Unix camps have the assumption that Xcode, the programming tool that Apple provides free with every Mac, is only good for developing Cocoa applications. Well, that's not exactly true. Here's a story of how a PowerBook and Xcode helped one computer science student to increase productivity and performance in uni.
by Tom Yager, InfoWorld
Mac Pro feels just about balanced to me as a four core machine, but you can be sure that I don't work this Mac Pro the way you work yours.
by Aldan Malley, AppleInsider
Apple on Monday launched a surprise new commercial for its Apple TV device, emphasizing the simplicity and echoing Steve Jobs' observations that the company was entering the living room after coming into cars, dens, and pockets.
by Giles Turnbull, O'Reilly MacDevCenter.com
Google Desktop does some of these things better or faster—in my opinion, finding a file on your hard disk is much simpler using GDesktop than it is with Spotlight.
And it does some new things smarter, such as the trickle-mode caching of your Gmail account, with subsequent offline access to your messages, or the improved search capabilities it brings to existing apps like Mail.
by Tom Hormby, Low End Mac
As Steve Jobs slowly consolidated control of the company, one of his top priorities was a rejuvenation of Apple's image. This ultimately took the form of the immensely succesful (and long lived) Think Different campaign.
by Paul Venezia, InfoWorld
The difference isn't market share, it's the foundation of the operating systems.
by Eddie Hargreaves, The Apple Blog
Sometimes it zooms, sometimes it maximizes and sometiems it just does wacky stuff that no one can really explain.
by Peter Cohen, Playlist
Apple on Monday announced that the 100 millionth iPod has been sold. Apple claims that the iPod is the fastest-selling music player in history.
"At this historic milestone, we want to thank music lovers everywhere for making iPod such an incredible success. iPod has helped millions of people around the world rekindle their passion for music, and we're thrilled to be a part of that," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
by Iljitsch van Beijnum, Ars Technica
It turns out that the Bonjour that we all know and love has a little-known sibling that does work across the internet: wide-area Bonjour.
by Applepeels
What I am curious about is there anything left for me but an iMac? I guess I want more performance and flexibility than an iMac, but I do not think that I can justify the price of the new Mac Pro systems.
by Elizabeth Cook, Salisbury Post
Yes, the iPod is for every age and worth every penny. It can even be a time machine.
by John Naughton, The Observer
By bundling the lock-in freedom with something else (higher fidelity) Apple might obscure the fact that it is charging a premium for lock-in-free music.
by Mark Caro, Chiacgo Tribune
I called and e-mailed two different press reps at Apple last week asking the typical life expectancy of an iPod hard drive.
No response.
by Charlie Reed, TCPalm
iPods are more than just a gadget to listen to music or watch a movie. At Indian River Community College, Apple's digital media player can help you get a degree.
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
Miranda July: Ok, here I go, I'm going to make this whole Website right now on this dry-erase board.
(Yes, I've just watched You And Me And Everyone We Know, so it was a pleasant surprise for me to have stumbled on this interesting web site.)
by Greg Maletic
It took a phone call, a trip to System Preferences, and about three minutes to figure out how to use it. It's a case of Apple putting up a ridiculous barrier to Windows users learning the Mac, and it's as sily — though more confounding - than their refusal to put a second button on their laptops.
My view: I do not want Apple to put a second mouse button on their laptop. I've used many Windows laptop, and every single one of them is a failure, in my opinion, in this department. I only have one thumb to click, and I don't want to have to move or strain my thumb to select either the left button or the right button.
by Graceful Flavor
Apple made the platform the nucleus while every other OEM couldn't — because they didn't own the platform.
by Dave Winer, Scripting News
What's happening with MS is not death, but being pulled back to earth by gravity.
by John's Adventures
The thing is, you just need to sit down and use one for 5 mintues to realise that you'll never want to go back to a PC again. Do believe the hype.
by Katie Dean, Capital Times
The recent spate of legal threats from the music industry against the UW campus community apparently has convinced few students to change their file swapping habit, but they're also using a slew of other tools to find new music.
by Paul Graham
It's gone now. I can sense that. No one is even afraid of Microsoft anymore. They still make a lot of money — so does IBM, for that matter. But they're not dangerous.
by Erik Schmidt, Mac Law Students
Macintosh detractors often paint Apple's relentless attention to user experience as "shiny interface" add-ons, but they're missing the point. A well-designed computer is an integration of hardware, operating system, and applications.
by Rob Bushway, GottaBeMobile.com
The MacBook Pro was probably the worst hardware purchase I've made in a while, and that says a lot coming from a self-proclaimed Mac fan.
by Shelly Palmer, Huffington Post
DRM free does not mean free to use. It means free of copy protection and usage tracking. The biggest result of this announcement may be that people believe for another 30 cents they actually own the music — which they absolutely will not.
by Dan Frakes, Macworld
To use the Apple Remote, you have to be able to find it — a challenge in itself, as many an Apple notebook owner will tell you — and you need to actually have it with you. I recently looked at two very different approaches to this minor mobile dilemma.
by John Gruber, Daring Fireball
Apple TV seems to strike the perfect balance — regular people never have to get their hands dirty with complex nerdery, but those of us who want to easily can.
by Scott Silverman, MacUser
Had anyone else entirely forgotten about the fact that the Mac mini still has the original Core Duo processor?
by Bija Gutoff, Apple
"Aperture is so easy to learn and use. Frankly, I don't know what I was doing without it."
by Peter Cohen, Playlist
A tiny display and awkward controls mar the experience, just like its predecessor.
by Mathew Honan, Macworld
There may come a time when you have to bid a fond farewell to an old computer. Whehter you want to sell it, donate it, or simply recycle it, you should take steps to protect yourself and the environment.
by Matt Buchanan, Gizmodo
All they give you for the iPod is the cable. No protected pocket, pouch, stand, or any way to lock down your precious.
by Tim Bajarin, PC Magazine
I do think that the Mac's new ability to run Windows as well as OS X has to be viewed as a potential disruptive force within IT departments. At the very least, it should get Apple broader attention within traditional Windows-only IT operations.
by HipMojo.com
The shield has been broken. Apple is on the descent.
by Consumerist
If Apple can't fix the hard drive and restore your data they'll replace the disk, but they'll also keep your old drive. Even if you ask for it back. Even if you try to buy it back.
by Tim McIntire, Apple
"I'd say 95% of the people most directly involved with Harvard IIC choose Mac as their primary platform. It is funny; if you walk in here, you would think we were sponsored by Apple."
by Scott Silverman, MacUser
I think the Core 2 Duo MacBook is one of the best notebook computers Apple has ever made. It's small, beautiful, powerful, durable, and even inexpensive.
by Ryan Block, Engadget
Apple's stance is more along the lines of: it's your box, do with it what you please — but be mindful of voiding that warranty.
by Philip Michaels, Macworld
If you find yourself overwhelmed by multiple Word files, spreadsheets, and presentations, you should be able to impose some order thanks to Versomatic's clever tracking features. As useful as this first version is, some modest interface improvements will go a long way toward making Versomatic a more indispensable tool.
by Dan Frakes, Macworld
Skim is a slick application with some truly unique PDF-viewing features. It just may take the place of Preview on my Macs, at least for reading PDF documents.
by Dan Frakes, Playlist
While each of these recently-announced iTunes Store features adds value for consumers, taken together they also provide an environment in which more people will want to buy — or, at the very least, not have as much of an aversion to buying — albums online.
My view: What's next? Season pass for individual artists and bands, that's what.
by Christopher Breen, Macworld
Does your five-year-old watch in fascination as you work with Photoshop? Encourage your child's interests by turning your retired Mac into a digital art station.
by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
Rogers Wireless manager of corporate communications Odette Coleman told CBC News in Canada that it was all "speculation," and that the company had not announced anything about whether or not they would carry the iPhone.
by Greg Kot, Chiacgo Tribune
Had the industry's key executives adopted that thinking seven or eight years ago, when peer-to-peer file sharing was still in its infancy, they might not be in the mess they're in now. As it is, they've left the door open for Jobs and Apple to dictate their future, and monopolize the digital marketplace.
by Derik DeLong, MacUser
Apple released on a seemingly random Wednesday.
by Tom Negrino, Backup Brain
I was a Mac consultant, and I've worked on hundreds of Macs. Not once did I have to do something this stupid and tweaky on a Mac.
by Jeff Boulter
I really hate the fact that closing the lid turns almost everything off.
by Applepeels
While using a Mac initially looked like it was going to be a liability in the world of real estate, well designed ccess in our home MLS system, the wide variety of tools available for the Mac, and strong data portability has proved that not to be the case.
by Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
The European Commission's complaint against Apple and the major record labels over a possible violation of European rules on cross-border trade has served to highlight the inconsistencies in how music is released and priced online.
by Dan Moren, Macworld
While it may not offer the same level of integration into the OS that Spotlight has, it seems a more than able competitior when it comes to the nitty-gritty of searching your Mac.
by Peter Svensson, Asosciated Press
If you don't want the Xbox 360, wait for upgrades to both iTunes and Apple TV that take HD seriously.
by Aaron Wright, Apple Matters
While I'm sure the record labels are partly to blame, the real criminal here is the UK government and its 17.5% V.A.T.
by Jason Snell, Macworld
Setting it up and using it has proven to me that Apple's engineers and interface designers have executed even better than I had expected.
by Kirk McElhearn, Macworld
Rather than stocking up on DVDs or installing second hard drives, you can use one machine to back up everyone over the network.
by Jonny Evans, Macworld UK
See Also: Grover Saunders, Ars Technica: This may ultimately qualify as too little, too late. Apple's Cinema Displays are still far more expensive than comparable options.
by Jeff Gamet, Mac Observer
Apple released the much anticipated quad-core and 8-core Mac Pro models on Wednesday. The new pro-level Macs are available in speeds up to 3.0 GHz.
by Reuters
Major record companies are forcing Apple to curtail access to iTunes online stores across borders, leading to higher prices and less choice, the European Commission said Tuesday.
by Jeremiah Foster, O'Reilly Mac DeveCenter Blog
I think I acted hastily and blogged when I should have tried to fix my problem through other means.
by Scott McNulty, The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Google's Desktop's killer feature is integration with Google's other offerings, specifically Gmail and Google search.
My view: I have not used Google's Desktop, nor do I have Mac OS X 10.4, but I'm wondering why Google didn't go for the route of creating Spotlight plug-ins, but rather create a brand new application.
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
Google on Wednesday will release Google Destop for Mac, marking the first time the search giant will make its desktop tool available to Mac users. Mac users already have a search tool with Apple's Spotlight, but Google said its utility will work alongside the Mac OS X 10.4 feature perfectly.
by Dom Sagolla, Dom.net
"Oh, wow."
"Wow."
"Let me say it backwards: wow."
by AFX
"We don't believe Apple did anything to violate EU law," Apple said. While it "always wanted to operate a single, pan-European iTunes store accessible by anyone from any member state", it was "advised by the music labels and publishers that there were certain legal limits to the rights" they could be granted.
by Alarming Development
What really broke my heart was the outliners. There is a thriving marketplace of outlining programs on the Mac which I have long envied. Well, they all suck.
by Toby Shterling, Associated Press
Greenpeace International placed Apple Inc. last in its ranking of major electronics makers for their environmental friendiness, while Chinese manuafaturer Lenovo jumped to the top of the list.
See also: Derik DeLong, MacUser: Greenpeace's campaign against Apple in a desperate attempt for attention is hurting their cause.
by Tim Beyers, Motley Fool
For all of the hubbub over what the iPhone isn't today, the device hasn't shipped. Don't assume that Apple and its software partners are unaware of what they have in the iPhone, and what it could be. History says the Mac maker knows better.
by Oliver Breidenbach, O'Reilly Mac DeveCenter Blog
One thing is sure: since sales are reported to be better than ever, Apple doesn't have much pressure to come out with new hardware.
by Christpoher Breen, Macworld
Seeing is believing. Put aside the specs and watch one in action. Rather than press your nose against the glass seeking out artifacts, view it the way you'd watch TV—from several feet across the room. While it may not match the quality of your DVD player, watching video from your Apple TV is anything but an unpleasant experience.
by Anton Lincker, Macworld
Want to look in on the kids while you're at work? Check on the house when you're away? Or simply see what the dog does all day? By outfitting your old Mac with a camera and software, you can build a monitoring system that lets you spy on your house from anywhere in the world.
by Geoff Duncan, TidBITS
Steve Jobs has bodly predicted as much as half the music sold on iTunes may be DRM-free by the end of the year: that probably indicates he expects at least one other major label to get on board.
by Eliot Van Buskirk and Rob Beschizza, Wired
While Apple scored a public relations coup by offering EMI's DRM-free tracks through iTunes, the company has also struck a major blow against Microsoft in a less obvious arena: music encoding standards.
by Ponzi's Schemes
I wonder who is going to be the first company to give us retractable cords. Or at least a wrap lock.
by Bill Thompson, BBC News
If Jobs is the man to turn the music industry away from DRM then we will all owe him a massive debt of gratitude. And today, while there is still al lot of manipulation, politicking and arm-twisting to be done, we've taken a small step in the right direction.
by Evan Hansen and Michael Calore, Wired
EMI says discussions are ongoing with Beatles publisher Apple Corps to secure the online rights from the world's biggest digital holdout. Those talks are unrelated to the wider issue of selling tracks without anti-copying technology.
by David Weiss
Apple's sustainable competitive advantage is their deep trust in the inherent value of their products and the experiences they provide. Almost no one has that these days.
by Adam Frucci and Brian Lam, Gizmodo
EMI approached Apple about DRM free tracks, not the other way round... The iTunes premium price and AAC 256 kbps format are Apple's marketing decision.
by Jeremiah Foster, O'Reilly Mac DeveCenter Blog
iTunes removes authorization to play a particular song if your address changes.
by Jonny Evans, Macworld UK
The move has attracted broad support from across the independent music industry, though the other majors are maintaining silence on their response at this time.
by Steven Levy, Newsweek
A new deal between Apple and EMI drops restrictive software from their songs, paving the way for better portability of digital music and improved sound quality. So why does it have to cost more?
by Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service
Even though Jobs has been pushing the music industry to drop DRM, he has different opinions about video.
by Thomas Crampton, Internationa Herald Tribune
As EMI Group celebrated its announcement that the record label's digital music catalogue would go on sale on Apple's iTunes online store without built-in copy restrictions, the European Commission confirmed Monday that the two companies were facing an antitrust investigation over the pricing of songs on iTunes.
by Kevin Hoffman, The .NET Addict's Blog
Apparently there are a few traces of good customer service left.
by Ryan Block, Engadget
Asking customers to pay 30% more for no DRM and a higher bitrate is a distraction, a parlor trick to take our attention away from the philosophical issue: EMI is still selling DRMed music.
by Dan Moren, MacUser
The vendors there are clearly more interested in cramming as many bells, whistles, and feature bullet points into their products than in designing something that people can just use.
by Christopher Breen, Playlist
So who wins on this one? Just about everyone.
by Dan Moren, Macworld
I'm not going to sink to my knees and thank the record companies for finally deigning not to treat digital music consumers like second-class citizens. This is what we should have had four years ago when the iTunes Store was launched.
If you truly want to look at the future of digital music sales, look no further than last week's announcement of iTunes's new "Complete My Album" feature. That's something that never would have been possible with the old model of music sales.
by Christpher Breen, Macworld
Say good-bye to the days of hastily scribbled notes shoved behind refrigerator magnets. You can use an outdated Mac to keep track of your family's comings and goings — it can serve as a messaging hub, an answering machine, a weather station, and the keeper of the family calendar.
by Jeff Gamet, Mac Observer
Daedalus Capital Founder, Stephen Coleman, thinks Apple's special position in the technology industry is going to carry the company's stock on an upward wave for some time to come.
by Charles Jade, Ars Technica
Via Apple TV Hacks, there is now a how-to for running OS X on the Apple TV.
by Jonny Evans, Macworld UK
by Michael Gartenberg, JupiterResearch
It is a good step forward for consumers but more importantly, it showed Apple at the forefront of acting as "champion" for consumer interests. After all, it wasn't Rob Glaser or Bill Gates up there with EMI.
by Kirk McElhearn, Kirkville
To sum up, this is a true earthquake. I can imagine that some executives at other record labels have had to change their underwear today.
by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News.com
Guess what? The most talked-about and sought-after device at the three-day CTIA Wireless conference was Apple's iPhone, which wasn't showcased and doesn't even ship until June.
by Martyn Williams and Angela Gunn, Computerworld
EMI Group PLC's announcement today that it intends to drop digital rights management (DRM) restrictions on the tracks it offers through Apple Inc.'s iTunes makes the recording giant the first of the four big music labels to ditch DRM.
At a joint press conference, EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli stated that the company had engaged in testing and consumer polling in the months before the announcement, concluding that there was an overwhelming amount of support for DRM-free tracks with higher sound quality. The announced price of the non-DRM tracks will be $1.29, or 30 cents higher than the current per-track prices.
Also: DefectiveByDesign.org is looking for ideas for a thank you to Steve Jobs.
by Cory Bergman, Lost Remote
I unplugged my cable TV box and substituted my Apple TV in a week-long experiment to see if I could live off the a la carte shows on iTunes for less than my $92/month cable bill. I'll admit up fron tthat it didn't trump my Comcast service (I have a HD DVR with VOD and HBO), but with a few added features and a little more iTunes programing, Apple TV would be my choice.
by Jonny Evans, Macworld UK
Apple CEO Steve Jobs will appear at a joint EMI and Apple press conference on Monday 2 April at 1 pm. A special live performance by an unannounced artist will also feature at the event, the invitation confirms.
Also: BBC: Beatles and iTunes talk growing.
Update: Reuters is reporting that "a source familiar with the situation said a Beatles deal would not be featured at the event on Monday." The speculation by Reuters is, thus, that EMI may be dropping DRMs. If true, this may well be the bigger news than having old Beatles tunes on the new iTunes store.
by Lou Dolinar, Los Angeles Times
Apple TV promises to be a huge financial success for reasons that have little to do with TV and everything to do with music.
by Manasclerk's The Power Struggle
I work on Linux for the grid, installed Linux desktop at home — this is being written on a 800 MHz desktop with a failing graphics card, in Firefox on Mepis, an Ubtuntu variant. I have administered Solaris and Windows 2000, and run Windows XP Professional on my current old HP laptop.
But after using an older Mac Powerbook G4 at the lab, I couldn't do anything but buy a Macintosh. They just work.
by Dean Takahashi, San Jose Mercury News
It's a brave foray into the living room, but it's late and Apple has to build on it.
by Jeff Carlson, Seattle Times
The Apple TV is compelling because Apple has done the living room right. The quality of the experience stands out the most, supported by the overall polish and attention to detail ranging from the easy navigation to the drifting photo screensaver that kicks into gear to prevent screen burn-in on plasma displays.
by Sharon Gaudin, InformationWeek
Security pros say the Mac platform isn't a high-risk operating system and is more secure than Microsoft's Windows XP.
by Alan Graham, MedHed
I'vehad a lot of computers. From growing up in a household with a stepfather who was an engineer, to my college days (both of them), to my 15+ year career in tech... I've seen a lot of machines come and go.
by Steve Rubel, Micro Persuation
Niche content will change the economics of television.
by Christopher Breen, Macworld
In its current form, the Apple TV won't follow in the world-altering footsteps of the iPod. With its simple setup, superb streaming, ease of use, and quality output, it's a great piece of gear, but it will have more-limited appeal than the iPod largely because of the nature of DRM and video.
by Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com
Cingular is confirming that the release date will be June 11.
by David Flynn, APC
A demo of an alpha build showed the revised user interface is moving in a very appealing and Mac-like direction.
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
I'm back from my break. (In real life, I was actually away in Hong Kong for a business trip.)
Thanks for all who wrote in with their feedback and notes of encouragement. These are all very appreciated! And, also, apologies to those whose e-mail ended up into my junk folder. I simply didn't have the time to go through the huge junk folder that ballooned just after a few days of neglect.
Do keep those feedback coming in. I enjoy reading them all. I just hope that spam is not as huge a problem.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.